Tayshaun Prince is a solid if no longer spectacular wing to fill in for Rudy Gay. Prince is shooting 43.4 percent from three this season (handy when you have passing bigs like Marc Gasol and Zach Randolph), is a solid defender and will fit in well with the Grizzlies as they try to make a playoff run.

Calderon in Detroit is not going to make Brandon Knight’s day.

UPDATE 4:40 pm: Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo Sports and the NBC Sports Network took to twitter on Wednesday afternoon to say that a deal to send Gay to Toronto is moving much closer to reality, with or without the addition of a third team in the mix — appaarently the Grizzlies really want to get this done.

Memphis and Toronto pushing closer on deal to send Rudy Gay to the Raptors, sources tell Y! Sports. Raps would part with Calderon and Davis.

It looks to me like a two-team deal is agreed to and Memphis is getting time to see if a third team can be found to jump in that makes it work better for them. Marc Stein at ESPN tweets that Dallas and Detroit were two possible third teams. However, if that doesn’t come together fast Memphis will just pull the trigger on a two-team deal then try to flip Calderon to another team in a separate trade later.

Ed Davis has played well for Toronto at the four as the starter since Andrea Bargnani went down, well enough that he took the starting spot away from the former No. 1 pick. Davis is on his rookie contract, Calderon has $10.5 million expiring deal (and would provide depth at the point with Mike Conley and provide tax relief in future years if they can’t flip him).

3:18 pm: No Rudy Gay to Toronto trade is imminent as of Tuesday night. In fact, the latest report from Adrian Wojnarowski suggests he may not be going there at all.

The Raptors and Grizzlies are looking to get a third team involved in the deal. While we fans at home love to come up with three-way trades the reality of them is they are exponentially harder to pull off than a straight swap. Too many people to make happy, too many issues to balance.

The final hurdle for the salary dump of Memphis Grizzlies forward Rudy Gay to the Toronto Raptors hinges on finding a third team to absorb the expiring contract of Raptors guard Jose Calderon, league sources told Yahoo! Sports.

The Grizzlies have inquired with multiple teams over the past several days, searching for a willing partner to facilitate a three-team deal, sources said.

Calderon is a quality point guard in the last year of a deal making $10.5 million. There is some trade value for him, but not as much as you might think. There are a lot of good point guards around the league and if you have one you like you’re not going to give up anything of value to get another one.

It could happen still, especially if the two teams work it out themselves, but with a third team don’t bet on it.

the Wizards have shown little appetite for dealing Otto Porter anywhere for a return heavy on future assets and cap flexibility, sources say

John Wall‘s massive contract looked barely movable even before he underwent season-ending surgery. Washington seems unwilling to take a step back by trading star Bradley Beal.

So, that leaves unloading Porter – who’s earning $26,011,913 this year and due $55,739,815 over the next two seasons – as the obvious way to create cap flexibility and accumulate future assets. If the Wizards are unwilling to do that, it speaks volumes to their plan.

They don’t want to rebuild. They want to win now. Porter can help them do that.

In many ways, it’s noble Washington is so committed to winning, even at great expense. That’s generally what we want from teams. We don’t want them to give up or cut costs just because they’re a couple games out of playoff position midway through the season.

But the Wizards’ spending has been… uneven. Leonsis greenlit a payroll well into the luxury tax and is apparently willing to keep Porter, which likely keeps that payroll high. Yet, Washington is also holding as many roster spots vacant as allowed, offering small savings rather than adding depth amid multiple injuries.

Maybe the Wizards just don’t believe they could sign minimum-salary players who’d actually help. But insurance never hurts on the court.

So, Washington is left looking content holding its few major contracts, nickeling-and-diming down the roster, winning a barely moderate amount and not gaining better position for the future. I’m unconvinced that’s a worthy vision, but if that’s what the Wizards want, keeping Porter helps stay that course.

Boston Celtics guard Marcus Smart has been fined $35,000 for aggressively pursuing an opponent in an attempt to escalate a physical altercation and failing to leave the court in a timely manner following his ejection, it was announced today by Kiki VanDeWeghe, Executive Vice President, Basketball Operations.

The incident, which took place after Smart was assessed his second technical foul and was ejected, occurred with 7:35 remaining in the third quarter of the Celtics’ 113-105 victory over the Atlanta Hawks on Jan. 19

Smart was seemingly near the line between this fine and a suspension. He’s fortunate to land on the side he did.